PASEDENA, TX – Federal authorities announced what they’re calling “the largest law enforcement bust of precursor chemicals bound for a foreign terrorist organization” during a news conference in Pasadena on Wednesday morning.
More than 300,000 kilograms of chemicals used to make methamphetamine were seized this week by U.S. Homeland Security agents at the Port of Houston. The chemicals were destined for clandestine labs controlled by the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico.
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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons announced the operation, calling it the largest seizure ever by U.S. law enforcement of methamphetamine precursor chemicals.
The shipment, originating from China, included six containers of benzyl alcohol — a pharmaceutical solvent — weighing nearly 165,000 kilos, and six containers of N-methyl formamide, another organic solvent, weighing more than 151,000 kilos.
If the chemicals had reached their destination, officials say they could have produced nearly 190,000 kilos of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $569 million.
The seizure comes amid a national crisis: more than 34,800 Americans died from overdoses involving psychostimulants, primarily methamphetamine, in 2023.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia secured the legal warrant for the seizure. Because the Sinaloa Cartel was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization earlier this year, prosecutors had authority to execute the seizure under terrorism forfeiture laws.
Officials from Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI joined in announcing the operation in Houston.